Abstract
Although common minke whales occur in relatively high numbers in the North Atlantic, relatively little is known about their seasonal movements or the location of their breeding and calving grounds. This lack of knowledge compromises our ability to protect potentially important areas for this species. Here we report high latitude winter sightings of unweaned minke whale calves recorded in offshore waters in the Northeast Atlantic. We discuss how such sightings may contribute to our understanding of the winter distribution and movements of this species; raising the possibility that a proportion of the population may over-winter at high latitudes in offshore waters, and that calving may occasionally occur in the warm North Atlantic Drift waters of western Europe’s continental shelf.
Highlights
Common minke whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata acutorostrata, Lacépède, 1804) are one of the most abundant mysticetes in the North Atlantic and as a result, are currently listed as a species of Least Concern under the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List (Reilly et al, 2008)
The International Whaling Commission (IWC), an Inter-governmental Organisation charged with the conservation of whales and the management of whaling, recognises four minke whale stocks for management purposes in the North Atlantic: Central North Atlantic, West Greenland, Canadian East Coast, and Northeast Atlantic (Donovan, 1991), whales are thought to move extensively throughout the entire region (Anderwald et al, 2011)
There is no genetic evidence for geographic structure between the putative stocks in the North Atlantic (Anderwald et al, 2011; Quintela et al, 2014), minke whales are thought to distribute across at Kavanagh et al Marine Biodiversity Records (2018) 11:22 least two breeding grounds, the location of these breeding grounds remains poorly known (Anderwald et al, 2011)
Summary
Common minke whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata acutorostrata, Lacépède, 1804) are one of the most abundant mysticetes in the North Atlantic and as a result, are currently listed as a species of Least Concern under the IUCN Red List (Reilly et al, 2008). The timing of migratory movements coupled with winter sightings of minke whales and calves in the Southern Northwest and Northeast Atlantic suggest that waters off the South-eastern U.S and West Africa are important regions for these animals, and may include calving areas (Vikingsson & Heide-Jørgensen, 2015; Mitchell, 1991; Nilsson et al, 2011).
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